Abstract Irrigation plays a critical role in addressing food security as envisaged in Kenya’s development blueprint, the Big Four Agenda. However, the performance of any open channel irrigation system is a function of its canal conveyance efficiency, among other factors. To overcome challenges with irrigation water conveyance at the Ahero Irrigation Scheme, a Hydrologic Engineering Centre River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) model was used to simulate the flow characteristics at the tail-end se...
Abstract Background Grains of important food and export crops in Africa are susceptible to contamination by toxin-producing moulds. Aflatoxins are mycotoxins associated with liver damage and cancer in humans and animals. These toxic substances are produced by fungi (such as Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus) in food and feed exposed to poor conditions during crop cultivation, storage or processing of harvest. The presence of aflatoxins in especially maize and peanuts in Kenya is...
Abstract Bacillus thuringiensis strains are widely used in many larvicidal pest control programs. However, the large-scale production of these biolarvicides is very expensive due to the high cost of the production synthetic medium. In this study, we developed cost-effective media, based on locally available raw materials namely legumes, potato, and whey. The optical density, protein concentration yield, sporulation and Chilo partellus larvicidal action were studied by growing bacterial strai...
Abstract Lake Elmenteita is one of the alkaline saline lakes within the Kenyan Rift valley. The lake is situated on the floor of the Kenyan Rift Valley at 1,776 m above sea level and has no direct outlet. The microbial diversity of the lake was investigated using a culture-independent approach. Five different sampling points were selected randomly within the lake. Wet sediments and water samples were collected from each sampling point. In addition, dry mud cake was collected from three point...
Abstract Greywater (GW) is household wastewater effluent originating from baths, showers, kitchen and hand wash basins and laundry and constitutes 50-80% of indoor household water use. It represents water that can potentially be intercepted at the household level for use. In Kenya, GW use is practiced on an informal basis to supplement irrigation water, either in urban gardens in middle to upper income suburbs or in food gardens in lower income informal, periurban and rural areas. However, t...
Abstract The breeding programmes of many crops use diallel analyses because of the genetic information they offer to breeders. Six morphological and agronomic traits of Snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were studied to investigate their gene action, and to estimate the general combining abilities (GCA) and specific combining abilities (SCA) of parents and crosses. Three snap bean varieties - Amy, Monel and Morlane and two dry bean varieties - GLP 20 and GLPX 92 were used as parents in a comp...
Abstract Aims: Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a crop with largely unexplored and unexplained potentially valuable genetic variability. The knowledge and understanding of the extent of genetic variation of cassava germplasm is important for conservation and improvement. Objective: The current study was to investigate the genetic divergence of cassava mutants, hybrids and landraces using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Methodology: Genetic diversity of ten cassava genotypes was de...
Abstract Development and deployment of genetically engineered crops requires effective environmental and food safety assessment capacity. In-country expertise is needed to make locally appropriate decisions. In April 2007, biosafety and biotechnology scientists, regulators, educators, and communicators from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, met to examine the status and needs of biosafety training and educational programs in East Africa. Workshop participants emphasized the importance of developi...
Abstract Meloidogyne incognita causes huge yield losses in rice which is the third most important cereal crop in Kenya. The aim of this study was to identify M. incognita-resistant rice cultivars from Kenya and relate the responses to known resistance pathways with OsPR1a, OsPAL1, and OsJAMYB as marker genes in rice. Five rice cultivars BW 196, Basmati 217 (Pishori), Sindano, IR 2793-80-1 (grown in lowland irrigated fields), and NERICA 4 (grown in upland rainfed fields) were evaluated for re...
Abstract Thermophiles are excellent sources of enzymes that can withstand and carry out reactions efficiently under high temperatures. This study isolated and characterised thermotolerant bacteria that produce enzymes of potential industrial value from five hot springs in Eritrea. A total of 65 bacterial isolates were obtained from the five hot springs. Out of the 65 isolates; 19 isolates produced a positive reaction for amylases, 36 for carboxymethyl cellulases, eight for proteases, 10 for ...
Abstract/Overview Temperature plays an important role in the development and survival of insects. The effects of temperature on the development of two cricket species, Acheta domesticus and Gryllus bimaculatus were determined at six constant temperatures (18, 22, 26, 30, 34 and 380C). Parameters for stage-specific development such as fecundity, weight and fat content, structural body size, sex ratio, development time, and longevity were investigated. Relative humidity, light intensity, an...
Pot and field experiments were conducted at the Nyankpala Campus of University for Development Studies from January 2020 to March 2022. The objective was to test the efficacy of peptide-based nematicide (Nemanol) and its concentration on root-knot nematodes and growth and yield of tomato in biochar amended soil. In experiment 1, the treatments which were applied in a completely randomised design (CRD) with three replications were; Soil with no biochar and no nematicide (T1), Soil with 5 ml of...
The biodiesel prepared from Restaurant Cooking Oils (RCO) using trans-esterification process as well as the influence of major operating parameters on the reaction including catalyst amount, temperature, and alcohol/oil ratio have been studied in the present paper. Experimental results showed a good effectiveness of biodiesel yield 93% based on optimum conditions catalyst 1%, alcohol/oil mass ratio 2/5 under 40°C.
Plants have been known to be used in the treatment and management of diseases, and this is due to the presence of phytochemicals. Thus, the screening of plants qualitatively, has got the interest of researchers. Moringa Oleifera is a fast growing deciduous tree with its different plant parts commonly used in herbal medicine, also with good socio-economic and industrial values. In this study qualitative photochemical screening was carried on Moringa oleifera leaves extract to test for alkal...
The project involves building a user-friendly application for students to explore in-demand services and understand how to list their own services for potential hiring opportunities. Using the app, students can input specific keywords, seller types, and countries to search a service provider website. The app then collects data on listings, such as titles, descriptions, sales, and ratings, and analyzes them to identify popular services and keywords. Visualizations are provided to help students...